Golf is one of the most popular participator sports in the U.S. and spreading throughout the world. The sport provides players, of all ages, with the challenge to aim and shoot a ball several hundred yards into a small hole. The problem is that many times from point A to point B the ball gets lost or damaged. Once a ball is lost, the player must put a replacement ball into play. Unless the player is carrying a spare ball, he must return to his bag or cart to obtain a replacement ball. It is not unusual for a player to lose one or two balls on a single hole.
Many patents have issued on various means to secure a ball, ether golf or tennis, on a player's clothing. However, for the invention to be commercially successful, the cost of the device must be kept reasonable. The manufacturing cost of the items from which the device is assembled, is generally a major factor affecting the pricing. The cost of the assembly operation is another major cost item. Although the material expense in most of the prior art devices is minimal, the complex construction involved would tend to raise the cost of manufacture. Another major problem in the introduction of a new product to a marketplace, is the cost of manufacture of prototypes and the cost of manufacturing small initial runs of the product. When introducing a new product to the marketplace, few entrepreneurs are willing to make large investments until the product has proven its commercial feasibility. The prior art is replete with golf ball holders and tennis ball holders which have technical merit but which have failed to achieve commercial viability. For example the device of U.S. Pat. No. 3,873,009, discloses a ball holder designed to secure a single ball on a belt. The base has a clip for mounting the holder and interlocking members for joining several holders to one another. A connector tongue is joined at one end to the base and the other to a resilient retaining ring which holds the ball in place. The Goudreau patent is, in the preferred embodiment, formulated from plastic. The tongue 24 and tongue 60 are connected at protrusion 62 and recess 26, thereby producing a connection at a high torque area which is subject to stress each time the ball is inserted or removed.
The Steere patent, U.S. Pat. No. 4,065,040, illustrates a beltmounted device for holding a ball between two opposing metal loops with laterally extending legs joined together by vertical arms. The user's belt is woven through the vertical arms to hold the device in place. The device is composed of several parts which require specific and relatively complex manufacturing. In order to work accurately, the two opposing metal loops must be mirror imaged.
The Fowler patent, U.S. Pat. No. 2,665,830, discloses a device which can be attached to the users belt and used to carry balls and other accessories. The construction of the Fowler device appears to require substantial equipment in that the former must be stamped out and then bent to shape.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,661,129 to Seaton discloses a single ball holder which attaches to the belt. The U shaped portion hooks over the belt and the ball holding rings extend outwardly at right angles to the U shaped portion. The balls are locked in between the two rings and, during removal and insertion, put pressure at the joints connecting the rights to the U shaped portion.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,708,061 issued to Kotchka illustrates a spring system which is affixed to a curved base. The helically wound spring is secured to the base through loops or raised portions in the base; the base is secured to the users belt through use of a U shaped belt hook. The formation of the base and attachment of the spring system and belt hook requires substantial tooling and machinery.
In the Kinard U.S. Pat. No. 3,768,709, a bent wire ball holder is disclosed. U shaped portions form a securing portion which is used to hold the device on clothing. A pair of wire loops extend from the U shaped portions to hold the ball in place. The Kinard device requires a substantial amount of bending and, the fact that the wire must be flexible enough to allow for the unit to be bent into shape and for the balls to be inserted, also allows for distortion of the base and ball holder portions.
Similar to the aforenoted patent is U.S. Pat. No. 2,074,180 to Hatley. Again, the flexibility of the wire to allow for bending into shape also allows for the wire to be distorted.
In U.S. Pat. No. 1,911,256, Andrew, a clip on device which slips over the wearer's belt is disclosed. In one embodiment, the balls are slipped into a partial ring and in a second embodiment, the balls are slipped into vertically placed "fingers". The manufacture on this patent can be difficult in that there are a lot of protrusions and critical dimensions.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,062,482 Szalony, discloses a one piece device for holding balls. The balls are secured vertically with a garment clip extending from the top ball.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,777,933, Joliot and 4,082,209, Sanders, both disclose ball holders incorporating a rigid cylindrical housing with clipping means to secure it to clothing.
A wire ball, cigarette, etc. holder is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 2,757,698 to Goodman. U.S. Pat. No. 4,433,803 discloses a belt which has vertically placed dual ball holders. In U.S. Pat. No. 4,226,350, the end of a key chain is fitted with a ball which slips into a base secured to a wall or the like.